Take this simple quiz. Read these words and note your response.

Challenge. Inquiry. Attempt. Failure.

If you thought – Interesting, a problem. Something to learn. Okay, well try again., then one thing is true. You share an extraordinary trait with the likes of Tesla, Nobel, Latimer, and Musk.

You think like an inventor.

Call it inventive mindset. And like you, great inventors embody a genuine curiosity—both about the world around them, and the people next to them. Through authentic interactions, problems pique their interest. So they conjure solutions. Some change the world. As our quiz reveals, inventive mindsets abound.

Enter James Robert Cade. A humble polymath, Dr. Cade collected violins as well as patents, Studebakers alongside poetry, and friends beyond nations. Physician, scientist, musician, horticulturalist, professor, grandfather and more, but you’ll surely remember this… He was the lead inventor of Gatorade.

That solitary product saved lives, catalyzed a new industry, and paved a way for unveiling inventions in the public square. But Dr. Cade believed in inspiring something much greater. You.

Dr. Cade quoted Tennyson sincerely. "I am part of all that I have met; yet all experience is an arch where through gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades forever when I move.”

Like his museum, he welcomed all problems, stories, and possibilities as honored guests. Stepping inside the Cade Museum, you enter something different—a new potential.

First, look up. Like a celebration of innovation, the Cade’s rotunda shines with bright, stained-glass colors as these words circle endlessly—NECESSITY, CURIOSITY, IMAGINATION, ITERATION, SERENDIPITY, NECESSITY... Spin.

Here, your journey is to THINK, MEET, and BE. To think like an inventor, you might encounter our challenging “Edison’s Pile of Junk.” To meet an inventor, ask questions of one standing in front of you. Listen to our Radio Cade podcast. Attend Cade Prize. And to be an inventor, walk into the Creativity Lab and Fab Lab. Collect, learn, and practice the tools that will bring your imagination to life.

Invention has many mothers.

Since research shows that even more than IQ, it’s creative passion that predicts success and happiness, here we spark inventive joy. Einstein, a keen violinist, said Relativity “came to him through musical intuition.” So, we designed synaptic crossroads to ignite that creative passion—mixing disciplines, introducing unique connections.

Through the lens of invention, you can imagine the experiences happening here. Shark-inspired bacterial film. Necessity-inspired Cuban innovation. Foldable polyhedron structures for budding architects. Ideas for sustainable food production. Ever-changing themes venture from deep space travel to theremin music to coding. Every topic inspires new perspectives and opportunities.

Remember that inventive mindset you discovered? That’s our job. Inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries, our mission at the Cade is to transform real communities. We believe by catalyzing the world’s great inventive mindsets, we create communities of problem solvers, communities that rise to challenges and overcome adversity, filled with individuals who are endlessly curious and interested in the welfare and benefit of others.

Some museums educate or titillate. We offer you inventivity—a boundless co-creation of invention, creativity, and the imagination to bring it all together.

We are a mission with a museum. Our mission is for you. Spark Wonder. Invent Possible (no period) Curious